Sheet delivery



Sept. 19, 1944. NEUHART 2,358,345

' Q SHEET DELIVERY Filed May 21, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Andrew/Veuharf A. NEUHART} Sept. 19, 1944. Q

' SHEET DELIVERY Filed May 21, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Andrew Neuha m N NK KN Patented p 944 SHEET DELIVERY Andrew Neuhart, West View, Pa., assignor to Miller Printing Machinery 00., Pittsburgh, Pa., a

corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 21, 1941, Serial No. 394,476

17 Claims.

This invention relates broadly to sheet delivery. It relates more particularly to control of sheets being delivered sequentially, as, for example, from a printing press or other instru-.

mentality acting thereon. The invention further relates to the delivery of sheets sequentially to a support such as a pile and controlling the sheets so that they move rapidly'into position. upon the support and lie flat thereon and do not interfere with the delivery means, especially in high speed operation. I

By way of explanation and illustration the invention will be described as embodied in a sheet delivery apparatus employing an oscillatable carrier upon which the sheets are conveyed one after the other to a discharge point where they are discharged from the carrier above a pile support. One sheet is preferably delivered upon each cycle of the carrier. Whenthe carrier moves forward it carries a sheet with it'to the delivery point, the carrier then being withdrawn from supporting relationship relatively to the sheet, which then gravitates into position upon the pile. Unless the sheet hasmoved out of the path of the carrier before the subsequent forward or delivery movement of the latter, the carrier will, upon such movement, engage such previously delivered sheet. Such engagement is highly undesirable and may result in stoppage of the apparatus. This problem has been recognized even since the development of the oscillating carrier delivery. Many efforts to solve it have been made. Such attempted solutions have involved the use of both positive means and pneumatic means acting upon the sheets in an effortto insure that each sheet will be clear of the carrier upon the subsequent forward movement of the carrier. However, fully satisfactory" results have not been obtained, especially in high speed operation of the delivery apparatus.

I have devised a method and apparatus insuring movement of each delivered sheet 'out of the path of the carrier prior to the subsequent forward movement thereof. I preferably control each sheet as it is being delivered by the carrier so that the sheet hugs the trailing edge contrary to the direction of, delivery of the sheet- This tends to cause theportion of the sheet acted upon by such fluid flow to move somewhat downwardly relatively to theremainder of the sheet and also to lie closelyagainst the trailing edge of the carrier during retraction of the carrier. The fluid flow thus acting upon the sheet is preferably created by a tube having an opening so oriented therein that movement of fluid, through the tube and opening in a predetermined direction will bring about the action upon the sheet above described; While the fluid flow may be created either by blowing or by suction through the opening in thetube, I prefer to create it by blowing. Also I find it desirable to position the blower beneath the sheet as the sheet is delivered from the carrier. Thus the fluid flow caused by the blower and which moves, generally downwardly and in the direction of retraction of the carrier has somewhat of a suction effect below and upon the portion of the, sheet upon which it acts. I prefer to mount the blower on the carrier. While any suitable fluid may be employed, air is the cheapest and most readily available and is preferred. Preferably the blower operates continuously, serving not only to create an induced suction beneath the sheet as it is being delivered from the carrier but also to blow down upon the sheet as it is about to settle upon the pile on the succeeding forward stroke of the carrier. fluid fiow or jet is directed generally downwardly and in the direction of retraction of the carrier results in the absence of any disturbing influence upon the edge of the sheet which last left the carrier when the carrier moves forward in the succeeding cycle over such sheet.

I find in actual practice that the method and apparatus above referred to result in a very great improvement in the manner in which the sheets are delivered, particularly at high speed when it is important that the sheet shall be entirely clear of the path of the carrier in a very short space of time. the trailing ,edge of the carrier as'the carrier is retracted and they assume a relatively flat.

orgenerally planar position as they settle'onto the pile, which insures complete removal of each sheet from the path of the carrier in time and also assists in proper building up of the joggers.

adapted to partake of endwise movement upon The fact that the Thesheets tend to hug the pile by,

' take of endwise movement, the sheet I4.

bodily retraction thereof to deliver the sheet. I find that causing the sheet being delivered to hug the trailing edge of the carrier in such apparatus results in much more rapid and uniform movement of the sheet down out of the path of the carrier just as the sheet parts company with the carrier. The edge of the sheet which is last in engagement with the carrier 'as the carrier retracts is moved down rapidly to clear the path of the carrier. This is most important since that edge of the sheet is the one which the carrier is mostly likely to engage upon the succeeding forward stroke.

Other details, objects and advantages of'the invention will become apparent as the following description of a present preferred embodiment of the invention and a present preferred method of practicing the same proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a presentpreferred embodiment of the invention and have illustrated a present preferred method of practicing the same, in which Figure 1 is a plan view with portions cut away of sheet-delivery apparatus,

Figure 2 is an elevational view to enlarged scale of the structure shown in Figure l; V

Figure 3 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal cross-sectional view of a portion of the structure taken on the line IIIIII of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a diagram for the purpose of explaining the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the draw-' ings, there is shown a delivery apparatus, hereinafter called simply a delivery, which except for the means for controlling "the delivery of sheets as referred to above and to be described in detail below may be of any preferred construction. The delivery. comprises an oscillatable carrier, designated generally by reference numeral 2, which moves back and forth in the right and left direction, viewing Figure 2'. 'The carrier is oscillated by driving means including an oscillatable gear segment 3 and gearing 4 oscillatably operating sprockets 5 with which mes-h sprocket chains 6 carrying the carrier 2. I

The carrier 2 comprises a shaft 1 about which pass tapes. 8i The. carrier also has a cross support 9 carrying roller arms If! each having a roller I l at its extremity. The tapes 8 are trained about the respective rollers II. The frame of the delivery carriesfa rack I2 whose teeth point downwardly as shown in Figure 3. Meshing with the rack I2 is a pinion I3 mounted on the shaft 1. The pinion I3 is preferably connected with the shaft '1 through means such as a free wheeling clutch so that as the carrier moves toward the left, viewing the'drawings, the pinion l3 will turn idly. As the carrier moves toward the right the pinion will cause the shaft 1 to turn therewith. Thus upon each movement of the carrier toward the left the tapes 8 do not move endwise and upon each movement of the carrier toward the right the tapes do move endwise, turning in the shaft 1.

The action of the carrier can most simply be explained by reference to the diagram, Figure 4. It is shown in dotted lines in retracted position and in solid lines in advanced position; As the carrier 2 advances from the dotted line to the solid line position in Figure 4 it carries upon its tapes 8, which during such advance do not parcarrierreaches the solid line position, whereupon it begins its retractive or withdrawal movement The toward the right or back to the dotted line position. Such movement is, however, accompanied by turning of the tapes 8 about the axis of the shaft I, such movement of the tapes being at the same linear speed as the retractive movement of the carrier so that the upper reaches of the tapes during such retractive movement of the carrier in effect remain stationary relatively to the side frames of the delivery. Thus the effect is that the carrier moves out from beneath the sheet with very little frictional resistance upon the sheet. As the movement of the carrier progresses during its withdrawal more and more of the sheet gradually becomes unsupported and the sheet then begins to fall upon the pile l5. When the carrier reaehesthe dotted line position in Figure 4 it isentirely clear of the sheet and, as above explained, the primary purpose of the present invention is to insure that before the carrier reaches the sheet upon the succeeding advancing movement of the carrier the sheet will be clear of the path of the carrier and will be properly deposited upon the pile l5. v

Mounted on the carrier 2 and extending transversely thereof is a blower I6 connected with a flexible hose I1 extending to a source of compressed air. The blower I6 has a longitudinal slit I8 which preferably extends parallel to the axis of the blower and through which a jet of air is adapted to be blown during operation of the apparatus. The slit I8 is preferably continuous longitudinally of the blower throughout the transverse extent of the sheet being delivered and is of such, size that a substantially continuous jet of air is delivered therefrom. The slit I8 is posi tioned so that the jet is directed generally downwardly and in the direction of retraction or withdrawal of the carrier, that is to say, generally downwardly'and toward the press or other instrumentality from which the sheets come. In

. the drawings the slit I8 is shown as being so positioned as to direct the jet downwardly and rearwardly at an angle of approximately 30 to the vertical. This angle may be varied according to the exactposition of the blower relative to the trailing edge of the carrier as the carrier is retracted and according to the weight of stock being delivered. However, I find that under all circumstances the jet or flow of 'air emitted by the blower should extend generally downwardly and also generally rearwardly or in the direction of retraction of the carrier.. Desirably the angle of the jet will be between about 15 to the vertical and about 75 to the vertical. For a structure in which the parts have the relative positions shownin the drawings and employing paper of medium weight-and flexibility the jet should make an angle of between 25 and to the vertical.

Referring again to Figure 4, as the carrier 2 is retracted from the solid line position to the dotted line position during delivery of the sheet I4 therefrom, the blower creates a fluid flow beneath the sheet which appears to induce a suction at the portion of. the sheet adjacent the blower which results in the sheet hugging the tapes 8 as they pass downwardly about the shaft 1. The sheet passes over top both the blower I6 and the tube I6 which lies between the shaft 1 and the blower. The sheet moves down toward the pilerapidly and as the carrier reaches the dotted line position the edge of the sheet last in engagement with. the carrier quickly clears the pathof the carrier bya rapid downward movement due to the suction effect of the blower so that upon the subsequent advancing movement of the carrier toward the'left the carrier will not engage the sheet. Also 'upon'such advancing movement the jet from the blower will engage the upper surface of the sheet delivered..:upon the previous retracting movement of the carrier and will assist in laying the sheet down smoothly and flat upon the pile l5. Due to the fact that the jet extends generally rearwardly or in the direction of retraction of the carrier it will have no tendency to pass beneath the delivered sheet but will impinge only upon the upper surface of the sheet as the carrier advances.

As above stated, the method and apparatus above described result in very superior delivery of sheets sequentially from a printing press or other instrumentality in which the sheets are acted upon sequentially to the delivery pile. Even at very high speeds the sheet is moved down out of the path of the carrier rapidly enough that the carrier does not engage it upon the succeeding advancing movement thereof. The edge of the sheet last in engagement with the carrier is given a rapid downward movement which insures against engagement between such edge of the sheet and the carrier when the carrier returns on the next forward stroke.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of the invention and a present preferred method of practicing the same it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of'the following claims.

I claim:

1. In the art of delivering sheets, advancing a support carrying a sheet, withdrawing the support from supporting relationship with respect to the sheet and during such withdrawal creating a fluid flow beneath the sheet generally downwardly and in the direction of such withdrawal.

2. In the art of delivering sheets, advancing a support carrying a sheet, withdrawing the support from supporting relationship with respect to the sheet and during such withdrawal blowing a jet of fluid beneath the sheet generally downwardly and in the direction of such withdrawal.

3. In the art of delivering sheets, advancing a support carrying a sheet, withdrawing the support from supporting relationship with respect to y the sheet and during such withdrawal pneumatically urging the sheet against the trailing edge of the support and generally in the direction of such withdrawal.

4. In the art of delivering sheets, advancing a support carrying a sheet, withdrawing the support from supporting relationship with respect'to the sheet and during such withdrawal subjecting the sheet at its under surface to a pneumatic cur rent moving relatively to the sheet generally in the direction of such withdrawal.

5. In the art of delivering sheets, advancing a support carrying a sheet, withdrawing the support from supporting relationship with respect to the sheet and during such withdrawal subjecting the sheet at its under surface to a pneumatic current moving relatively to the sheet generally downwardly and in the direction of such withdrawal.

6. In the art of delivering sheets, advancing a away fromthe top of the support and thence generally in'the direction of such withdrawal and during such withdrawal pneumatically urging the sheet against the trailing edge of the support and generally in the direction of such withdrawal.

7. In the art of delivering sheets, advancing a support carrying a' sheet, withdrawing the support from supporting relationship with respect to the sheet to permit the sheet to moveby gravity toward delivered position and moving transversely of the direction of movement of the sheet by gravity toward delivered position a blower blowing a jet of fluid generally in the direction of such withdrawal.

8. In the art of delivering sheets, advancing a support carrying a sheet, withdrawingthe support from supporting relationship with respect to the sheet to permit the sheet to move by gravity toward delivered position and moving transversely of the direction of movement of the sheet by gravity toward delivered position a blower blowing a jet of fluid generally in said direction of movement of the sheet by gravity toward delivered position and in the direction of such withdrawal.

9. In the art of delivering sheets, advancing a support carrying a sheet, withdrawing the support from supporting relationship with respect to the sheet and during such withdrawal creating a fluid flow acting on the sheet generally downwardly and in the direction of such with drawal.

10. Sheet delivery apparatus comprising a support to receive a sheet, a carrier for the sheet having an edge over which the sheet is delivered to the support and a blower creating a fluid flow acting on the sheet adjacent said edge generally downwardly and contrary to the direction of delivery of the sheet from the carrier.

11. Sheet delivery apparatus comprising a support to receive a sheet, a carrier for the sheet having an edge over which the sheet is delivered to the support and a blower creating a fluid flow beneath the sheet generally downwardly and cone trary to the direction of delivery of the sheet from the carrier.

12. Sheet delivery apparatus comprising an advanceable and retractable support adapted to advance with a sheet thereon and to be retracted from supporting relationship with respect to the sheet and means creating a fluid flow acting on the sheet and directed generally downwardly and in the direction of such retraction during such retraction.

13. Sheet delivery apparatus comprising an advanceable and retractable support adapted to advance with a sheet thereon and to be retracted from supporting relationship with respect to the sheet and means carried by the support creating a fluid fi-ow acting on the sheet and directed generally downwardly and in the direction of such retraction during such retraction.

14. Sheet delivery apparatus comprising an advanceable and retractable support adapted to advance with a sheet thereon and to be retracted from supporting relationship with respect to the sheet and means creating beneath the sheet a fluid flow acting on the sheet and directed generally downwardly and in the direction of such retraction during such retraction.

15. Sheet delivery apparatus comprising an oscillatable carrier adapted to deliver a sheet over an edge thereof and a blower carried by the carrier creating a fluid flow acting onthe sheet gen- 17. Sheet delivery apparatus comprising endlesssheet carrying means bodily advanceable with a sheet thereon without partaking of endwise movement and adapted to partake of endwise movement upon bodily retraction thereof to deliver the sheet to a support and means carried by the sheet carrying means for creating a fluid flow acting on the sheet prior to its coming to rest on the support and directed generally downwardly and in the direction of retraction of the sheet carrying means.

ANDREW NEUHART.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,558,515. September 19, 19th.

, ANDREW NEUHART.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as foliows: g 1, first column, line 51, for the word "even" read -ever-; line 55, for 'direct- 1y" read -directed--; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 50th day of J nuary, A. D. 19LL5.

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

